China adopts credit cards

Press, 5 March 1988, Page 20

China adopts credit cards

COMMUNIST Chinese wallets may soon be full- of enough plastic to make a yuppie jealous. After years of watching tourists wield international credit cards at China’s luxury hotels, mainlanders have decided to join in. Chinese banks are now issuing local-currencj' credit cards.

Ten years ago the "Economises" Hong Kong correspondent t

had carefully to explain the use and potential risk of a credit card to a disbelieving diplomat at the Chinese Embassy in London. The idea of racking up debts to cover routine spending appalled Jiim. Now the average Chinese finds debt perfectly nor-

mal. . | The Bank of China’s, Great Wall Master Card, launched in December, is a joint venture between Master Card | International and. China’s top foreignexchange bank. The card' can be used, in place of local currency, in 20 of China's 29 provinces. Regional banks want to profit from the new business, too. Guangdong province, just over Hong Kong’s border, is I used to credit: half the bills j at the medium-priced Regal Hotel in the provincial capital, [ Canton, are paid with credit cards. No wonder that, in November, the Canton branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

issued its own card to compete with! the seven foreign cards accepted locally, as well as with the ißank of China’s. In spite of its proletarian name, the Red Cotton i card comes in gold and silver versions, just like its competitors. Gold cards are for corporate use, offering overdraft facilities of a princely 3000 renminbi while silver cards are for individuals holdings accounts containing moire than 500 renminbi. These allow overdrafts of 1000 renminbi. They are good for use at 144 local hotels and restaurants, 40 shops and 22 bank branches — but hot in the north. . Copyright — The Economist